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A review by spinesinaline
The August Birds by Octavia Cade
5.0
Read more of my reviews at https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com
I really, really enjoyed this one! The writing immediately stood out so I knew it was going to be a good read, and such an interesting premise! August wants to be a scientist when he grows up but he’s very sick and knows he’ll never reach that dream. A more manageable dream, he desperately wants to make it to his 10th birthday, which is a month away (the last day in August).
Two ravens, Muninn and Huginn (who I now know after reading American Gods!), appear in his room one day and make a deal with him — if he promises to hold on until his 10th birthday, they’ll show him a piece of science every day. Each of these days, we’re transported to a different time and location to see an important scientific discovery, invention, or event that happened on that date in history.
There were some that seemed more straightforward, like the first comet sighting, the invention of the hot air balloon, and the first finding of a Neanderthal skeleton, but the author didn’t shy away from more controversial moments in the history of science, like the Hiroshima bombing and the Night of the Murdered Poets (I hadn’t even heard of the second one before reading this book). These events weren’t described in full detail but enough that we could have a sense of what had occurred and understand its impact.
But even though this book taught me SO much about history (there was a lot of google searching in between reading – quagga, Kon Tiki raft, a plague outbreak in the 18th century?!), what made it such a powerful read was that it wasn’t just a story about science but about grief and illness and how these noteworthy moments in history could relate back to a young boy confined in his bed. I sometimes take issue with the way that young characters are written because often their dialogue seems at odds with their age, but here it made sense that August would be wise beyond his years. We needed that wisdom to explore these different levels of grief and pain as he comes to term with his own death, but he still remained that young boy who could be cranky and scared and so, so tired.
This was somehow still an almost hopeful book in spite of, or because of, it being incredibly sad. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and can’t wait to read more by this author.
I really, really enjoyed this one! The writing immediately stood out so I knew it was going to be a good read, and such an interesting premise! August wants to be a scientist when he grows up but he’s very sick and knows he’ll never reach that dream. A more manageable dream, he desperately wants to make it to his 10th birthday, which is a month away (the last day in August).
Two ravens, Muninn and Huginn (who I now know after reading American Gods!), appear in his room one day and make a deal with him — if he promises to hold on until his 10th birthday, they’ll show him a piece of science every day. Each of these days, we’re transported to a different time and location to see an important scientific discovery, invention, or event that happened on that date in history.
There were some that seemed more straightforward, like the first comet sighting, the invention of the hot air balloon, and the first finding of a Neanderthal skeleton, but the author didn’t shy away from more controversial moments in the history of science, like the Hiroshima bombing and the Night of the Murdered Poets (I hadn’t even heard of the second one before reading this book). These events weren’t described in full detail but enough that we could have a sense of what had occurred and understand its impact.
But even though this book taught me SO much about history (there was a lot of google searching in between reading – quagga, Kon Tiki raft, a plague outbreak in the 18th century?!), what made it such a powerful read was that it wasn’t just a story about science but about grief and illness and how these noteworthy moments in history could relate back to a young boy confined in his bed. I sometimes take issue with the way that young characters are written because often their dialogue seems at odds with their age, but here it made sense that August would be wise beyond his years. We needed that wisdom to explore these different levels of grief and pain as he comes to term with his own death, but he still remained that young boy who could be cranky and scared and so, so tired.
This was somehow still an almost hopeful book in spite of, or because of, it being incredibly sad. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and can’t wait to read more by this author.